Time well-spent results in more money to spend, more money to save, and more time to vacation.
– Zig Ziglar
If you follow any of my social media, you know that we lost a deal recently.
Specifically, we lost an e-commerce business we were planning to buy.
We raised $2.5 million.
It was a seven-month process where my partner and I were multiple six figures into the deal.
Losing all of that was a big setback.
Today, I want to talk about what I learned from this experience.
Some things went well and other things did not.
We’ll also talk about buying a business in general.
Let’s jump into it!
1. What Went Right in the Nymbus Deal?
As I mentioned before, the deal we invested in was an e-commerce business called Nymbus.
They drop ship products from China to sell in the US.
Pretty much all of their products were sourced from China.
There were definitely challenges in the timing of that, mostly to do with the recent tariffs.1
But let’s start off positively and talk about what went right in this deal.
This was first and foremost a cash flowing business.
I love cash flowing businesses.
In real estate, we talk a lot about cap rate.
If you buy a multifamily apartment in cash, you’re typically getting a 5% to 7% cap rate.
This Nymbus deal was more like a 35% cap rate.
That’s huge!
It’s part of the reason I love looking at private businesses.
The debt we were getting was fantastic.
We were in the process of getting a $10.7 million non-recourse loan.
Recourse means if the deal doesn’t work out, they can take any of your other assets (like your house).
I didn’t put any of that at risk.
As a passive investor, you generally don’t want recourse in anything, especially if a deal might not work out how you want it to.
2. What Went Wrong in the Nymbus Deal
What happened in this deal that was not beneficial?
The first thing that went wrong was the timing, like I said before.
These tariffs blew everything up.
Looking back, I’d say the second thing was being involved with China.
That wasn’t a great choice.
We’re now trying to move away from Chinese assets and businesses that rely on Chinese goods.
In general, they aren’t great at following the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).2
They also have a history of stealing intellectual property.3
Another thing that went wrong was that we did lose some money.
We’re out of pocket on some of the costs that won’t be returned.
For each of us in the deal, our losses averaged at least $30,000 to $40,000.
3. What I Learned from the Nymbus Deal
Despite all the negatives, I do like that we’re taking big shots.
I like that we’re taking deals that will help us grow.
That’s the biggest takeaway I want to leave you with:
It’s important that you’re willing to take shots.
You should be willing to look at all kinds of cash flowing businesses, even the more unorthodox ones.
Cash flow will allow you to leave a job if you want to.
If you don’t want to, it’ll give you the freedom to do what you love.
All of your expenses will be covered.
Now I want to hear from you!
What cash flowing options are you finding out there?
Stick them in the comments.
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Disclaimer: I am not your investment advisor. This is for educational purposes only. I am not giving specific advice on what you can do. I am simply giving my opinions.
Works Cited
1. Delouya, Samantha. “Trump’s Tariffs Are Dragging down an Already Stalled Housing Market | CNN Business.” CNN, May 19, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/19/homes/home-construction-prices-trump-tariffs.
2. Hass, Ryan, Madiha Afzal, and Philip H. Gordon. “Issues in China’s WTO Accession.” Brookings, July 28, 2016. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/issues-in-chinas-wto-accession/.3. Jianqiang Chen, Pei-Fang Hsieh and Kun Wang. “Cracking Down on the Infringement and Counterfeiting: Intellectual Property Rights and Corporate Innovation in China.” Finance Research Letters (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2023.103846.
Great job Bronson and team of managing this deal and getting out when things went South. Love that you’re looking for various types of cash-flowing opportunities and excited to see what you find next!